Guardsmen open fire on crowd after Pro-Russian rebels claim mass turnout for vote to split east Ukraine

VIOLENCE has marred a vote to split east Ukraine into two independent republics.

National guardsmen have reportedly opened fire on a crowd outside a town hall in Krasnoarmeisk, with an official for the region’s insurgents saying there are fatalities.

The bloodshed occurred on Sunday hours after dozens of guardsmen shut down voting in a referendum on sovereignty for the region.

An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the shooting said two people were seen lying unmoving on the ground and insurgent leader Denis Pushilin was quoted by the ITAR-Tass news agency as saying there were an unspecified number of deaths.

Several hours earlier, guardsmen came to the town about 30 kilometres from the regional capital, Donetsk, and dispersed referendum voting taking place outside the hall and they took control of the building.

In the evening, more guardsmen arrived in a van and a scuffle broke out with people gathered around the building. Then the guardsmen fired shots.

Pro-Russian rebels had earlier claimed a massive turnout for the vote which Kiev has slammed a “farce” amid Western fears it could lead to civil war.

Thousands of people queued in front of a limited number of voting stations in the restive provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk to cast ballots on Sunday.

“I want to be independent from everyone,” said ex-factory worker Nikolai Cherepin as he voted yes in the town of Mariupol, in Donetsk province. “Yugoslavia broke up and they live well now”.

Mass turnout... Locals in line to vote in Mariupol, Ukraine.Source:AP

Insurgent leaders asserted more than 70 per cent of the electorate in the two regions — home to seven million of Ukraine’s total population of 46 million — slid voting slips into transparent ballot boxes.

Yet no independent observers were monitoring the vote, which took place in the absence of any international support — even from Moscow, which had urged it be postponed.

Early on Sunday, an isolated clash occurred on the outskirts of the flashpoint town of Slavyansk as militants tried to recapture a TV tower but polling in the centre was unaffected.

Roman Lyaguin, the head of Donetsk’s self-styled electoral commission, told reporters voter turnout across the province was 70 per cent four hours before polls were to close. Lugansk’s rebels put their province’s turnout at more than 75 per cent.

Lyaguin added that results would not be in until Monday but already appeared confident the outcome would be in favour of independence.

After the results, he said, “there will likely be a period of negotiation with the authorities in Kiev”.

The hastily organised poll fell short of Western balloting norms. Notably, curtained booths were not set up in every town taking part, and polling staff lacking electoral rolls registered anyone who turned up.

Kiev called the process a “criminal farce” that had no legal or constitutional validity.

It said the vote was “inspired, organised and financed by the Kremlin”.

Western nations backing the Ukrainian government also dismissed the regional “referendums”.

They were “null and void”, French President Francois Hollande said on a visit to Azerbaijan.

Committed... Men try to overturn a truck at a barricade in the centre of Mariupol, Ukraine. Picture: Brendan HoffmanSource:Getty Images

It added that a nationwide presidential election Ukraine is scheduled in two weeks that will give “all Ukrainians ... a democratic choice”.

Britain also added its weight to a French and German warning of “consequences” against Russia if that election were to be scuppered.

The United States and the European Union see Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hand in the unrest that has gripped eastern Ukraine since early April. They believe he is seeking a repeat of the scenario that led to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March.

If Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election is stymied, the West has warned of immediate sanctions to cripple broad sectors of Russia’s economy.